Remote control system for typewriters



Oct. 30, 1951 I H. 1.. THQLSTRUP 2,573,370

' REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed Sept. 25, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR HL. Tholsfrup ATTORNEY Oct. 30, 1951 H. L. THOLSTRUP- 2,573,370

' REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR TYPEWRITERS F iled Sept. 25, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR A H.L.T/10l5Trup Q2 ATTO R N EY Filed Sept. 25, 1948 H. L. THOLSTRUP REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR TYPEWRITERS 3 Sheets-Sheet a Station 5 R45 R46 R44 FIG. 4

' INVENTOR H. L. Tho/Jfrup ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 30, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM FOR TYPEWRITERS 'Tlenry L. Tholstrup, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y.,- a corporation of New York Application September 25, 1948, Serial N 0. 51,178

6 Claims. (01. 197-19) 1 This invention relates to typewriting machines. The primary object of the present invention is to provide a remote controlled typewriter system suitable for use in certain types of commercial establishments, such as restaurants, where it may be desired to transmitinformation concerning. customers orders and the like to a typewriter located at a point where theorders are made up, as in the kitchen of a restaurant.

Another object is to provide a remote controlled typewriter which may be operated under the control of any one of a, plurality of separate stations, at each of which there is a keyboard for controlling all of the functions of the typewriter. 7

r Another object is to provide a remote controlled typewriter system having provisions for preventing more than one station at a time from controlling the remote typewriter.

Another object is to provide an interlock and signal system by which all of the stations are interlocked and provided with signals so that the operating condition of-the system may be shown at all times at any station and to prevent a sec ond station from aiiecting the line circuits while another station is controlling the remote typewriter.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been con templated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the remote control typewriter.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section showing one of the keyboard units for controlling the typewriter.

' Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the lock magnet for the remote control keyboard.

Fig. 4 is a wiring diagram.

In Figs. 1 and 3, the numeral generally designates a commercial form of power operated typewriter, such as the well known Electromatic, formerly known as the International and now known as the IBM electric typewriter- This machine has become well known in the art and, in view of this, only a very general description of it as modified to adapt it to remote control will be given herein. The typewriter I0 has all of its mechanism operated by power through the medium of a suitable power roller (not shown) controlled by key levers'l'l '(Fig. 1) which, when" depressed, cause the typeb'ars, the carriage re- 2 5 turn, tabulating, back space, and carriage spacing mechanisms to operate in a well known way.

For purposes of the present invention, theusual carriage I2 is modified to the extent of providing extensions lZa (Fig. 1) thereon for the purposes of rotatably supporting a suitable roll l3 of paper. The carriage is also provided with a single stop bar it similar to the ones disclosed in application Serial No. 593,367, filed May 12, 1945, by Henry L. Tholstrup, now Patent No. 2,439,497, dated April 13,1948. The stop bar Hi, through the medium of its stops Ma, controls a pair of marginal contacts MC which indicate when the carriage I2 is within a few spaces ofthe' right-hand marginal position. As will be seen later herein, these contacts control a signal light the carriage moves away from the right-hand marginal position, as when turned.

The key levers ll of the typewriter are operated by the key selecting solenoids KS (Fig. 1) which, when energized, pull down the key levers H to cause the various mechanisms of the type writer to operate. The type bars have only upper case type, numerals, and. special signs suited to the class of business in which the machine is used and the type basket is not shiitable. where it is necessary to print more characters, .a two case machine may be used and a solenoid KS provided for the shift keys of the typewriter. With these modifications, the machine is ren'- dered suitable for remote control by one or more separate keyboards, each capable 'of controlling the solenoids KS. These keyboards are desig' the carriage is renated stations A, B, and C in Fig. 4. One of the;

board. The remote controlling keys 23'corre-. spond in number, position, and spacing to the keys of a standard typewriter keyboard, including the carriage return, tabular, and back spacev keys, and also including a space bar 2d which is constructed in the usual way and provided with a key lever similar to the key levers 23a for the keys 23. V c

v The key levers 2% are pivotally mounted 'on a. cross rod 25 (Fig. 2) carried by a cross bar 26 supported on the plate 22 by means 0t theirame However,

The plate 22 supw members 21 which may take the form of suitable brackets or posts. Also mounted on the plate 22 by means of the posts 28 is a key guide comb 29 which is slotted to accommodate the key levers 23a. At their forward or left-hand ends, the key levers are guided by a channel shaped key guide 30 supported by a cross bar 3I fixed to the top surface of the plate 22.

The plate 22 and the bar 31 are each provided with a row of holes which are vertically aligned and also aligned with the key levers 23a. Received in these holes are the short rods 33 of in-, sulating material, the upper end of each rod coacting with a key lever 23a and the lower end;

coacting with a group of contacts which are operated each time the associated key lever 23a is de-" pressed. On account of limited space, the, contacts are arranged in two sets in a vertical row, each set being operated by a pair of adjacent keys. There are three contact members designated 34, 35, 36 for each key and the pins or rods 33 are of two difierent lengths so that each rests upon one of the contact-members 34. In order topermit the longer rods 33 to reach down to the lower contact members 34, the upper contact members 34 are cut away at their ends to provide a clear space for the longer rods 34. Thus gfalternate key levers operate the members 34 in one vertical row.

The keys which ordinarily effect shifting of the type basket are intercoupled by a crank shaft 31 (Fig. 2) which is pivoted in the brackets 35a which form part of and support the key guide 33 so that the two keys always travel together when either one is depressed. These keys SK control a set of contacts SKC (Fig. 4:) similar to the contacts 34, 35 and will be termed the start keys. The space bar 24 is provided with a somewhat similar construction including the crank shaft 310. so that, except for the fact that the keys 23 operate contacts, and do not control. cam units by direct tripping, the keyboard is constructed similarly to the keyboard in the typewriter.

All of the keys, with the exception of the start keys SK, are provided with a common form of key lock which prevents more than one of the keys from being depressed at a time. In the present case the lock may consist of rollers 38 located underneath the key levers 23a between the key guide comb 33 and a strip 39 spaced from the key guide comb 30 by a separator strip 40 on which the rollers 38 rest loosely. The rollers are of just, sumcient size to enable only one key to be depressed at a time and are normally kept close together in looking condition by a lock lever 41. (Fig. 3') pivoted at 4211 on a bracket 42 carried by plate 22. A spring 43 urges this lever in counterclockwise direction. The forward end of this lever 4| is shaped like the key levers 23a and is guided by the key guide comb 36. Spring 43 holds the left-hand end (Fig. 3) of lever 4I depressed thereby locking all of' the keys except the start keys SK against depression, the latter 4 which comprises a wiring diagram of the system.

When the main switch S is closed, alternating is clear for the transmission of data.

current will be supplied to the line wires WI, W2 which are common to all of the remote control stations and to the typewriter. This will start the typewriter motor M and also will energize the signal light L5 at the typewriter, indicating to the person in charge of the machine that the typewriter is in readiness for operation. It will be assumed that the carriage I2 of the typewriter is in its left-hand marginal position in readiness for writing a line on the strip from the roll I3 carried by the carriage I2 of the typewriting machine.

It will be assumed that the operator at station A wishes to transmit information to the typewriter and that none of the other remote controlled keyboards'are in operation, that is, transmitting information to the typewriter. When the starting key SK is depressed at station A, the

contacts SKC of this key will be closed. This allows a circuit to be established to energize relay R6 as follows: line wire wt in station A, the contacts SKC for the key SK, the coil of relay R5, contacts RSB of relay R5, the contacts R413 of relay R4, to line wire W2. The starting key SK at station A must be held down as there is no provision on the remote control keyboards for maintaining these keys in depressed position. The contacts REE-will close and energize the signal lamps L3 for stations B and C over circuits from line wire WI, the lamps L3, contacts RSD,

R413 of relays R4 and R5, and contacts REE of relay R6, to line wire W2. The lights L3 are red lamps and at the stations B and C. indicate to the operators at those stations. that one of the other stations, in this case station A, is about to, or actually is, controlling the remote typewriter. As long as the contacts are held closed at station- A, stations B and C cannot control the typewriter.

When the relay R6 is energized, the closure of its contacts R613 energizes relay RI by a circuit ler R, to the line wireWZ. This causes the keyboard lock for station A to become released and the light LI, which is a. green. light, indicates: to the operator atstation A that noother station is controlling the typewriter and that the line None of the amber lights L2 will be energized because it has been.v assumed that the carriage of the typewriter is in the left-hand marginal. position.

The operator now proceedsto operate the keyboard to transmit the desired character signals.

up from line wire WI, through the contacts 3d,. 35, 36'; the A solenoid KS, to line wire W2. The

energization of this solenoid causes the typewriter to print the letter A; ion, others of the solenoids. KS will be rendered effective by the depression of the appropriate character keys at station A. and cause the desired information'to' be written on the first line.

If the operator'writes almost to. the end of the line, the amber light L2 at station A'willbe light- In similar fash-' ed by the closure of the margin contacts MC which connects all of the amber lights L2 in parallel across the line wires WI, W2. The operator may wish to write more information than can be put on one line and, when the amber light lights, it is a warning to write only a few more characters and then to press the carriage return key. This will cause the carriage to return in the usualway since the carriage return key also is provided with a pair of contacts 34, 35, 36 and the typewriter has a solenoid CRS for rendering the carriage return mechanism of the typewriter eifective. As soon as the carriage is returned, the contacts MC open and extinguish the amber 1ights and the operator may now proceed to type another line.

When the transmission of the desired data is finished, the operator will release the key SK permitting the contacts SKC to open and deenergizing the relay R6. Due to the opening of the contacts RSB, the relay RI will be deenergized allowing the contacts RIA to close. This connects the charged condenser CI in parallel with the relay R2 and causes the relay R2 to be energized momentarily thereby closing the contacts R2A of the relay R2. Contacts R2A connect the carriage return solenoid CRS across the line wires WI, W2, and effect an automatic return of the carriage. This insures that whenever the operator of any station finishes the use of the remote control keyboard to transmit data, the carriage will always be positioned in readiness for transmission of data by another station without the necessity for first returnin the carriage before beginning transmission, since the carriage might be left in an intermediate position and there is no means of indicating this fact.

Whenever any of the relays R4, R5, R6 which correspond to stations C, B and A, respectively; are energized to begin the transmission of data, the relay RI will be energized as described and, aside from the advantage discussed above, the contacts RIC will close and energize the signal light L4, which may be a red light, denoting to the operator at the typewriter that a message is being transmitted.

It will be noted by reference to the wiring diagram that for each relay coil R4, R5, R6 there is a set of contacts like REA in series therewith for the other two relays so that energization of any of these relays prevents the energization of the other two. For example, the coil of relay R4 is in series with the contacts R5A, REA, so that energization of either of these relays prevents the energization of relay R4. Relay R5 is in series with the contacts R60, R4A so that relay R5 cannot be energized when either relay R4 or R6 is energized. The contacts R4F, R5F, REF, cause the lock release magnet LS for the corresponding station to be energized to release the keyboard for that station whenever the key SK for that station is operated, as was explained above in reference to station A and relay R6.

There is a possibility that power failure, for example, may cause the carriage to be stopped in an intermediate position. In order to enable the carriage to be returned to the margin under these conditions, the carriage return key lever of the typewriter is provided with a finger piece to enable this key to be depressed by hand by the person in charge of the typewriter and the remaining key levers of the typewriter are masked by a plate which has an opening to permit the carriage return key lever, but no other keylever; to be operated.

One application for a system of the naturedescribed above is in the restaurant business for the transmission of food orders to the cooks. This is usually done by means of a system of microphones and loud speakers but has been found to be somewhat imperfect due to the dimculty of fixing the blame for errors in filling orders sent back to the kitchen by the customer resulting in considerable loss from food thrown away. Also, due to noise, errors are committed due to the cooks misunderstanding instructions and filling orders incorrectly.

The stations may be located at the'difierent order counters or positions and used to transmit the orders to the cooks in the kitchen. The typewriter may have special types to reduce the time and effort in transmitting the order. For example, the following special types might be used to transmit sandwich orders: WH, white bread; RY, rye bread; WW, whole wheat bread; MY, mayonnaise; MU, mustard; RU, Russian dressing; ets.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention, as applied to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and detailsof the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a power operated typewriting machine having a series of electromagnets for controlling the functions of the typewriting machine, a carriage, and contact means actuated when the carriage is at the line-end position; a system of remote keyboards for controlling said machine, each keyboard including keys and contact means actuated thereby for selectively closing circuits to said electro-magnets, means to normally look the keyboard against operation, a magnet for releasing the locking means, a release key for controlling said lock release magnet, and a series of signal lights designating line end, line clear, and line not clear, said line end signal light being controlled by said line end contact means; and control relays, one for each of said keyboards, each control relay being controlled by the release key for the corresponding keyboard and controlling circuits to said last two signal lights and to said lock release magnet to energize the lock release magnet and energize the line clear light of a keyboard for which the release key is operated and to energize the line not clear lights for the other keyboards and prevent energization of the relays for the other keyboards.

2. In combination, a power operated typewriting machine having a serie of electromagnets for controlling the functions of the typewriting machine including carriage return; a system of remote keyboards for controlling said machine, each keyboard including keys and contact means actuated thereby for selectively closing circuits to said electromagnets, means to normally look the keyboard against operation, a magnet-for releasing the locking means, a release key for controlling said lock release magnet, and a series of signal lights designating line clear, and line not clear; control relays. one for each of said austere keyboards, each control" relay Being controlled by the release key for the correspondingkeyboard and controlling circuits to" said signal lights'and to saidlock release magnet to energize the lock release magnet and energize the line clear lamp of a; keyboard for which the'relea'se' key is opei ate'dand to energize the line not clearlights for the other keyboards and prevent ene'rgiiatiori oi the relays for theother keyboards, and means effective upon release of the" release key'to close a circnit to the carriage return electromagnet- 3. In comtina'timr, a power ope'ratedtypewrit ingmachine having" a series of electrdmegnets for controlling the functions of the typeififiting machine a carriage; and contact means-actuated when the carriage is at the-line 'end-position; asystemo'f reinote keyboards for controlling said machine, each keyboard including keys and em: tact means actuated therehy'fofselectively clos i-ng circuits to said electromagnets', means to nor:- many loch thekeyb'oa'rd against opera-hem a magnet for releasing the locking nieafis, a release key for" ecritronmg said 1cm; release-inasnet and a series of signal lights designating lifi'e' end,- use clear, marine net cleansa ici line and signal light heihg controlled by Said line" ricl contact meal-1s;- control relays; one for-{each of said ke'yboards; each control relay being" con trolled by the release for the corresficnd'ing keyhoatd and contronnig circuits to said last two signal lights and to said lok" release magnet;- to? energize the loc'krelease. magnet and energize the line clear light of a; keyboard for which the release key is operated and: to' ener ize the line not clear lights for the other keyboards and prevent energization of the relays for the other keyhoards; and a signal light at; said typewriting machine energized by one of said relays when the release" key ofkeyboard isoperated tomachine is about to'he operates under cor i trel of aremote keyboard.- I

4'. In conihi'natiori; a ower deemed printing: machine having a series of eiectrcmagriets for selectivelycontrolling the functions of the" flint ing machine; a s'y'stern of remote keyboardsfor controlling said machine, said keyboards irleliilling keys" and contact means actuated the'rebyf for: selectively closing circuits to said electromagnetic; rheans to lock the keyboards-aigaifist'operatiofi; magnets for releasing the lock cleans,- release keys for controlling said- Rick release magnets? and signal lights designating miec'lear and line" not clear; and controlrelay'sfor said keyboards,

said control relays being controlled by the release keys and controlling circuits to said signal lights and to said lock release magnets to selectively energize the lock release magnet and energize the line clear light of a keyboard for which the release key is operated and to energize the line notclear lights and prevent energization of the relays for theremaiining keyboards.

5'. In combination; a; power operated typewrit ing machine havin a series of electromagnets for controlling the functionsof the-ty ewritin'g' machine; a system of remote keyboards for con troning said' machine; said keyboards including keys and contact meansjactu'ated thereby for selectively closing to said eieetromagnets} means to normally look the keyboards against orieration, niagnets for releasing the lock means, and release keys for controlling said lock release magnets; and control relays, one for each of said keyboards, each control relay be'ing con trolledby the release key for the corresponding keyboard and controlling circuits to said lock rel-ease magnets to energize the lock release magnet ofa keyooard for which the release key is operated and to prevent energization of the lock release magnets for the remaining keyboards.-

6.- In combination, a: power operated typ'eWrit-' ing' machine ll ayin'g a series of elec-tromagnets' for controlling the functions of the typewri-ting machine; a system of remote keyboardsfor controlling said machine, said keyboards including keys contact means actuated thereby for selectively closing circuits to said electromagnets; means to normally lookthe keyboards against operation, magnets for determining when the lock means is to be effectiveand ineifec'tive,- respectlyely, and release keys for controlling sa-id magnets; and control relays, one for each of said keyboa rds, each control relay being controlled by the release key for the corresponding keyboard and controlling circuits to saidmagnets to render ineffective the locking means for the-keyboard associated with an operated release key and fifey'erit' release of the locking means for the remaining kyhoards. 1

HENRY L. TiiOLsTRU'fiL REFERENCES cries ffhe following references are of record in the file of this patent UNiE-TED STATES PATENTS Naine He SS a Sept. 19; 1893' 

